Car-Replacer. (open access)

Car-Replacer.

Patent for a car-replacer that is meant to "provide a strong and compact skid of comparatively light weight to form the body portion of the car-replacer and which shall be especially adapted to raise the car-wheels above the track, deflect toward them toward the rails until the tread of the wheels is suspended over the ball of the rails from an inclined surface terminating in a rounded end, over which the wheels move until they meet the track" (lines 12-21). The car-replacer does not have any liability of the skid tilting endwise or sidewise.
Date: October 15, 1895
Creator: Ragan, John
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car-Door Cleat and Fastener. (open access)

Car-Door Cleat and Fastener.

Patent for "a simple and comparatively-inexpensive car-door cleat and fastener designed for use on cars for transporting cotton and other highly-inflammable merchandise and capable of effectually excluding sparks from the interior of the car and of preventing the same from entering between the edge of the door and the doorway." (Lines 11-18) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: October 22, 1895
Creator: Woodruff, Hawkins
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Buckle. (open access)

Buckle.

Patent for a new and improved buckle. This design consists "[i]n a harness-buckle, the combination, with the frame, provided with a tongue-bar having two tongues thereon and a tongue-bar having a single tongue thereon, of a clasp-rest and a hinged clasp near opposite ends of the buckle-frame" (lines 77-82).
Date: October 7, 1884
Creator: Daniel, Ellison Armistead
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bedstead Fastening. (open access)

Bedstead Fastening.

Patent for a new and improved bedstead fastening. This design "consist[s] in the locking-pin, the sections which are . . . provided with the laterally projecting alternating studs . . . having aligned vertical perforations to receive the said locking-pin, and their faces provided with the outer beveled flanges at the base of the studs, extending the entire length of the sections, so that when the sections are connected together they will meet each other in angular form, whereby the strain on the locking pin and the lateral studs is equalized" (lines 59-70).
Date: October 7, 1884
Creator: Stewart, John Adkerson
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Beer Cooler. (open access)

Beer Cooler.

Patent for a new and improved beer cooler. This design consists "in a beer-cooler, the combination of the cup-shaped rubber cap having the opening with the faucet, said cap being adapted to form an air-tight joint between the faucet and the beer-cooler" (lines 89-93).
Date: October 13, 1885
Creator: Follett, Charles Jonathan
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car Coupling. (open access)

Car Coupling.

Patent for a new and improved coupling for railroad cars. This design consists in "hinged jaws, draw-bars provided with a pin-hole . . . the jaws acting to support the pin until forced apart by the link, a hinged lever, a plate pivoted to said lever, said pin being attached to said plate, and an operating chain or rod connected to said plate for raising said pin" (lines 29-36).
Date: October 12, 1886
Creator: Carley, John W.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car-Coupling (open access)

Car-Coupling

Patent for "...certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Couplings..." (lines 4-5) including instructions and illustrations.
Date: October 12, 1886
Creator: Mitchell, William A.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Box Car Door Fastener and Spark Arrester. (open access)

Box Car Door Fastener and Spark Arrester.

Patent for a new and improved box-car door fastener and spark arrester. This design consists in "the door, the screws extending therefrom, the strips having the inclined slots received on the screws, and provided with the projections, the lever pivoted on the screws outside the strip, stops on the lever to engage the projections, and means--such as cord--for locking the lever" (lines 4-11).
Date: October 19, 1886
Creator: Lynch, Hubbard Calhoun
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bed Stay. (open access)

Bed Stay.

Patent for a new and improved bed stay. This design "consist[s] of wires doubled at their center parts and twisted . . . to form loops . . . and diverged from said twisted parts and attached to the corner portions of the bedstead, and a tension and locking device consisting of a straining-lever fulcrumed to one of the loops and adapted to lock thereon and engaging the other loop" (lines 90-97).
Date: October 2, 1888
Creator: Bethea, Cade
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bobbin Winder for Sewing Machines. (open access)

Bobbin Winder for Sewing Machines.

Patent for a new and improved bobbin winder. This design consists in "the combination, with the main driving-shaft carrying a disk and rotated by the driving-belt of the sewing-machine, of a second shaft in axial line with the said driving-shaft and having a longitudinal movement, a disk held on the said second shaft, a bobbin held by its flanges in said disks, and rollers pressing against the bobbin in the front and rear" (lines 50-58).
Date: October 30, 1888
Creator: Lewis, Annie
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Buckle Fastening (open access)

Buckle Fastening

Patent for buckles fastenings. Illustration included.
Date: October 25, 1910
Creator: Chapman, Eleanor Moore
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bow Facing Oar (open access)

Bow Facing Oar

Patent for an oar facing the bow side of the craft. The invention allows for the rower to sit facing the direction of movement of the boat and be able to apply greater amounts of exertion. Illustration included.
Date: October 23, 1906
Creator: Case, William C.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Carbureter (open access)

Carbureter

Patent for a "carbureter adapted for use in connection with internal combustion engines, and being of novel construction whereby the air is drawn through the gasolene or liquid fuel to vaporize the fuel and thereby provide a thorough and proper mixture of the air and fuel" (lines 10-16), including illustrations.
Date: October 19, 1915
Creator: Nichols, Theodore J.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bottle Stopper (open access)

Bottle Stopper

Patent for a bottle stopper. Illustrations included.
Date: October 18, 1904
Creator: Hogan, Thomas & Grady, Patrick H.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Buttonhole and Button Location Marking Machine. (open access)

Buttonhole and Button Location Marking Machine.

Patent for an improvement on machines that create buttonholes and mark buttonholes. Includes illustrations.
Date: October 14, 1902
Creator: Powell, William J. & Vaughn, William H.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Plow-Hitch Mechanism (open access)

Plow-Hitch Mechanism

Patent for a plow hitch mechanism created by J. Butler and assigned by Parlin & Orendorff Company of Canton, Illinois with accompanying illustrations.
Date: October 23, 1917
Creator: Butler, John H.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car-Door (open access)

Car-Door

Patent for a car door that has a lock that cooperates with the hangers on the door to cause them to bind the rollers against the track. The car door also provides a locking means for the levers on the door locking means which is "adapted to received the ordinary car seal" (line 22).
Date: October 12, 1915
Creator: Renner, Willie L.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cutter-Bar Adjusting and Locking Means (open access)

Cutter-Bar Adjusting and Locking Means

Patent for "adjusting and locking the cutter bars of lawn mowers" (lines 9-11), and improve the movement of lawn mowers by adding a screw through the frame and cutter bar.
Date: October 1, 1918
Creator: Hollon, George F.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Automobile-Tire (open access)

Automobile-Tire

Patent for the improvement of cushion tires. The improvement produces a more resilient tire, less susceptible to punctures.
Date: October 8, 1918
Creator: Hemphill, Alwynn
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car-Coupling. (open access)

Car-Coupling.

Patent for an improved car-coupling that features "a solid block at the back part of the draw-head, which when coupling the cars will come far enough back to hit the solid part in the draw-head and prevent the bent spring from breaking." (Lines 16-21) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: October 6, 1896
Creator: Schneider, Adolph F.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Body-Armor. (open access)

Body-Armor.

Patent for "an armor adapted to be employed without the use of securing-straps and which, while protecting the shoulders of the wearer, will permit of the use of his arms and shoulders, as, for instance, in executing the manual of arms, without such movement being retarded by the weight of one of the body-plates." (Lines 16-23) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: October 27, 1896
Creator: Stevenson, Robert Ferguson
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cabinet. (open access)

Cabinet.

Patent for a cabinet meant to contain "screws, bolts, rivets, and similar articles, and has for its object to provide a case for the storage of such articles by means of which the different articles are kept separate one from another, while at the same time ready access may be had to any one of the storage-compartments" (lines 9-15). It is circular and has a wheeled base.
Date: October 27, 1896
Creator: Caplinger, Joseph E.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Beehive. (open access)

Beehive.

Patent for improvements in beehives: "invention is to improve the construction of beehives and to provide a simple and efficient one, which will permit food to be readily supplied to the bees when desired and enable the apiarian to have him to cut bee entrances to the same." (lines 9-15).
Date: October 19, 1897
Creator: Tucker, John Q.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History

[Old Mission, Juarez, Mexico after a Battle]

Postcard image of a side view (from the north) of a Franciscan mission, labeled in the center of the image as "Old Mission, Juarez, Mex. after a Battle." One man on horseback, in the street, and a line of unidentified men standing on the sidewalk are in front the the building, which has visible damage from bullets and canons which resulted from the Battle of Ciudad Juárez (1911). There is a handwritten note on the back sent from "Hess" to Mable Dagley in Lockney, Texas.
Date: October 1916
Creator: unknown
Object Type: Postcard
System: The Portal to Texas History